The Things They Carried Essay

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After the devastation that World War II left the world, no one wanted to go into another war. Families lost their members, countries lost their dignity, and some soldiers were left with the moments of war forever in their minds. However, the concern that communism was going to spread made Vietnam become the longest war in American History. During this time a lot of young people were anti-war, they were sick of losing people they loved to violence. Though the war still needed to be fought so men became soldiers freely or because they were drafted. In the story “Things They Carried”, soldiers are faced head on with the Vietnam War. Tim O’Brien shows how the men carry the weight of physical objects through out the war. The men bog themselves…show more content…

Every soldier hears the horror stories of war but never really understands till they are in war themselves. In the short story, “The Things They Carried” all the soldiers are constantly dreading every second. For example it is not good news when a high command orders the soldiers to search the tunnel before having to blow them up. No one knows what is going to be in the tunnels and for the lucky ones that do not have to search the tunnels still feel the panic. The soldiers kneel down facing away from the tunnel. The fear causes them to think of anything that is down there such as, “cobwebs and ghosts” (O’Brien 103). However, the soldier that is not so fortunate crawls down into the hole shoving him self deeper into the ground. Worry and concern drips over him as he starts to think what if the flashlight dies, or if the rats have rabies, or what if a he gets stuck in the tunnel can the other soldiers rescue him? Fear can get the best of soldier and cause them not to be the best soldier they can be. Apprehension can weigh a soldier down mentally and physically. It can cause a soldier worry about things such ghosts while their main concern should be on their objective. At night the soldiers place claymores, which are bombs set on the ground to go off on an intruder then they crawl into their holes, “lie down and spend the whole night waiting” (O’Brien 103). It was impossible for the soldiers to get rest because they constantly

and all you can do is whimper and wait.” (211)
This passage has great meaning to how the soldiers felt toward one another. They did not have friends but they all knew how everyone felt because they were all simultaneously going through the same thing at the same time. The passage fits great in this novel because it gives great detail and imagery on how the characters Azar and Bobby Jorgenson felt toward one another. Strong relationships were developed and felt almost as if they were all one person…

Disembodiment in The Things They Carried
With some knowledge of war, one can begin to appreciate Tim O' Brien's The Things They Carried. But when the work is viewed in its strict historical context, another layer of meaning rises to the surface. Tim O' Brien is a veteran; as a result there are many things he takes for granted (or so we think) and does not tell us. America's involvement in the Vietnam war resulted from internal domestic politics rather than from the national spirit.…

The Things They Carried Report
“The Things They Carried” was a story about soldiers caught in the confusion of the Vietnam War. There are a lot of apparent themes that are dealt with when writing a story about war, especially about death. I enjoyed reading this story; however there were some things about it that I was concerned about. I would like to discuss the author’s style of writing, his meaning of the title “The Things They Carried” and the way the author and his characters deal with death…

Argumentative Synthesis
“The Things They Carried”
Tim O’ Brien, having the memories of war engraved in his mind, recalls the memories of his youth during battle in “The Things They Carried,” an intriguing collection of military accounts that symbolize his attempt to resist closure from past experiences. O’ Brien’s story reflects the difficult choices people have to make in their struggle to confront the war waging inside their bodies as well as on the ground they tread. In Steven Kaplan’s criticism…

story an example of this is Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried”. As the story goes on it shows not only the literal meaning of what they carried but also symbolically the burdens that they had mentally.
In the literal sense O’Brien talks about what different members of a platoon in Vietnam carried. This helps him to move to a more symbolic sense at the end of the story. He starts by talking about necessities and slowly moves on to what they carried to remind them that there was a world out side…

The soldiers that fought in the Vietnam War had to endure many incredibly horrifying experiences. It was these events that led to great human emotions. It was those feelings that were the things they carried. Everything they carried affected on them whether it was physical or mental. Every thing they carried could in one-way or another cause them to emotionally or physically break down. Pain, loss, a sense of safety and fear were probably the most challenging emotional, and psychological feelings…

Strength in The Things They Carried
Everybody has to deal with adversity at some point in their lives. The adversity that they go through varies from person to person. For First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, he had to make it through the Vietnam War alive. In the short story, "The Things They Carried," where Cross draws his strength from is somewhat unclear. He seems strong at the beginning of the story, but then again, he also seems to be gaining strength towards the end of the story. This…

Christian Hernandez
Professor Sarah Cantrell
English 1102
“The Things They Carried”: Emotional side
The story of "The Things They Carried" written by Tim O’Brien gives a good outlook on how the Soldiers feel and think during the war . The story describes the different things that the soldiers carry with them while at war. O’Brien talks about the different items in great detail such as weight, color, shape and size but he also gives extraordinary details about not only their personalities…

Spring Book Review
In The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien tells the tale of not about war, but rather about war’s effect on one’s mentality. Ultimately, this novel is built on a foundation of the items that the soldiers of the Vietnam War carried. Whether it was the way Jimmy Cross uses the pebble to escape from his duties as a soldier or when Norman Bowker realizes that courage comes form within, not from receiving a Silver Star; O’Brien uses baggage as a symbol throughout the book to teach…

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
Plot:
1. RISING ACTION • In the summer of 1968, Tim O’Brien receives a draft notice. Despite a desire to follow his convictions and flee to Canada, he feels he would be embarrassed to refuse to fulfill his patriotic duty and so concedes to fight in Vietnam.
CLIMAX • During their tour of duty, the men of the Alpha Company must cope with the loss of their own men and the guilt that comes from killing and watching others die.
FALLING ACTION • After he returns…